Entity
by DeeP ci
Summary: October 31st, 1981. Maddie Fenton answered the urgent knocking at her door only to find her wizard cousin, Sirius Black, with infant Danny cradled in his arms. "Please, Madds. I don't have much time..."
1. The Boy

**The Boy**

_October 31st, 1981. _

The Fentons had lived in the USA for generations; From before the time of the Salem Witch Trials, up until the modern day, they were a permanent fixture in the sidelines of history. And although they were presently infamous for their descendant Jack Fenton's ghost hunting... interest—Ok. _Obsession_—they were once a key motivator in the actual Salem Witch Trials, and skilled and fierce hunters of magic and feared worldwide by magic-kind as "Magebane".

But now, with so much knowledge lost after the separation of not only the Material and Spectral worlds, but the muggle and magic ones as well, the family was left naught but a hated and ridiculed name.

Very few descendents of the name stayed true to that ancient set of ideals, that ancient oath against magic. Jack Fenton may have been one of them, but, then again, maybe he wasn't... His grandfather used to always go on about how the Nightingale blood had ruined the future of Fentonkind.

Two-year-old Jazz yawned from her spot on the lab counter, curled up nest to her father, who was blathering on about ghosts enthusiastically. Maddie smiled at them endearingly, unknowing of the horrors that had passed just hours earlier in Britain.

Breaking her out of her reverie, a loud, incessant banging at the door reverberated throughout the entire house.

She sighed, the neighbours again? How much more hatred toward her family would these poor people dish out...? "I'll get it," she told her husband and daughter, brushing a ginger lock out of her daughter's sleepy face, not wanting to bother the two.

But the person at the door was not a neighbour, and definitely not what she expected. Her jaw slackened in surprise, then the muscles in her face tightened and flexed into a smile. "Sirius," she said happily, but then noticed the look on his face and the bundle in his arms. The man looked worn down, sad, regretful, guilty.

"Please, Madds," he said, his voice cracked, pleading. "I don't have much time..." He seemed to be struggling to catch his breath.

She put her hands firmly on his shoulders, "Sirius, please, calm down. What's wrong?"

He bit back some sort of snarky remark, and for a moment she glimpsed a look at the Sirius she knew, playful and overconfident. And then it was gone, overshadowed by sorrow once more.

It would have had to have been something terrible to warrant bringing Sirius down. Something unspeakable. "Oh no," she breathed, several inhuman images springing into her mind.

"You'll hear about it soon," he said gravely. "But that's not why I'm here."

"Then why," she asked, but the look on his face silenced her without words.

He looked emotionally torn as he presented the bundle he had been holding so protectively, showing her the face of its occupant. "I would take him with me if I could, but he needs some place safe and stable and you were the only person I could think of, so..." said Sirius quickly, rambling a little.

"Sirius..."

"Hardly any single witch or wizard will let him live a life without this hanging over him," continued the Animagus, taking her tone the wrong way. "And..."

She cut him off. "Of course I'll take care of him."

The relief on Sirius's face melted her heart. "Thanks, cuz."

"But, Sirius," she mocked, "if you acknowledge our relation you'll be struck off the wall for sure!"

He smiled. "_Now_ I remember why I like you... Take care of Danny." He handed her the bundle and its occupant. He sighed in resignation. "Still can't believe you married a Fenton," Sirius smirked, and in a twirl of tattered robes he was gone.

* * *

**_Scriptor Nota:_**

**Entity** _noun_

1. something that has a real existence; thing

2. being or existence, especially when considered as distinct, independent, or self-contained

3. essential nature


	2. Aftermath

**Aftermath**

It was not long after the departure of her cousin that the news arrived by owl. James and Lily, dead; Harry, their son, the only survivor... and of the Killing Curse no less! It was no wonder that Sirius had looked so grief-stricken. It was horrible to even consider... Even the news of You-Know-Who's demise seemed so pale in comparison.

Not that she was complaining; that sick bastard deserved far more than what he got—may he rot in oblivion for all of eternity. (If she had known of his survival she would probably have hunted him down herself.)

But what really tore at her heart was the news of the arrest of "mass murderer Sirius Black".

It couldn't have been true.

She knew Sirius—he was her cousin, even _if_ they were both "Traitors to the Most Ancient and Noble name of Black". He was like a brother to James, and she knew Black felt the exact same way towards the Potters. They were more of a family to him than the Blacks _ever_ were. He would never have betrayed them.

She read the article once. Then once more. And then a third time.

A single sentence burned into her mind, her brain, leaving nothing but those words in her head, in front of her eyes.

_**"...for his crimes most heinous and Dark, Sirius Black will be subject to life in Azkaban without trial..." **_

Very few things could get Maddie truly mad... but when they did, woe be to those who dared mess with this mommy Black-Fenton.

Stuffing the paper angrily into a pocket somewhere on her person she made sure Danny was safe and sleeping... Jazz and Danny were so _cute_ together... and stormed out of the house with only a few words to her husband.

Ophelia was an old friend of Maddie's (Dionne and Jazz played together every other weekend), her house was the closest with an owl, and she didn't ask questions when the auburn-haired woman rocked up unannounced, asking to use their Eurasian Scops Owl.

The days passed swiftly. Jazz had taken to Danny quicker and better than Maddie could ever have hoped, and yet it all seemed so empty.

After juggling her family life, getting Danny registered as her son and her pure outrage at the no-trial conviction... well, let's just say Maddie was swiftly reminded why she had never trusted the British Ministry of Magic.

No matter how many times she'd sent letters to them (Amity had a small population of magic users who were happy to lend her an owl, she didn't want to get Ophelia in trouble), they refused to so much as acknowledge her letters challenging them for Sirius's right for a trial.

Even visits to America's ministry yielded no better ("Oh, sorry, Azkaban is more of a British thing", apparently). Though, her husband did offer to "drive" the GAV in there ("That would teach them to mess with a Fenton!"). She was very tempted, even if it would be severely counterproductive.

But what made her feel _really_ guilty... Sirius could have escaped.

He could have dropped off Danny and escaped. But, instead, instead he went back immediately, to try and make it so no one knew Danny was here... Make it seem like he'd never left Brittan.

She suspected why he hadn't, though. The papers were wrong about Sirius betraying Lily and James, so perhaps they were wrong about Peter and Sirius's motives for killing him. If he even _did_ kill the wizard. Even if he _had_ killed Peter, there would likely be more than a finger. Ashes, perhaps.

But she'd managed to successfully adopt Danny, which was a small but significant victory.

No one in the Wizarding World had connected the dots between Daniel in America and the missing (presumed dead) baby Daniel from Brittan. It was sad, really, and another nail in the coffin representing Maddie's overall opinion of the British Ministry.

* * *

No responses, no acknowledgement, not even a string of duplicated response letters.

She was being stonewalled.

And she didn't like it.

A tiny hand tugged at the edge of Maddie's glove. "Mommy?" Jazz's green eyes were staring up at her, so young and innocent and full of emotion. Worry, hope, sadness... "You kay?"

"I'm fine, honey," said Maddie, but only half of her heart was in it.

Jazz was smart, and she was not convinced.

Looking at her daughter, she was brought down to the harsh reality of it all. In her single-mindedness, she had been focusing more on Sirius than her own child. Her own family, she should say. She had Danny and Jack to take care of, as well.

_Sirius is your family, too._

"Go find your daddy, Jazz," said Maddie, smiling sadly. "I need to think for a while, ok?"

Jazz's eyes looked deep into Maddie's own. It always felt like the young child was trying to see into one's soul whenever she did that... "Be kay soon, mommy," said Jazz, seeming somewhat appeased by this response, if reluctant.

_Jazz is my daughter._

_Sirius is your cousin. Jazz has her father, Danny has no one. Sirius has no one._

Maddie frowned. _Danny has me now, and Jazz, and Jack._

_Sirius needs you, too._

_But what is the cost of that? How much will my family suffer for it?_

_...Sirius will suffer if you don't. _

_And Jazz, Jack and Danny will suffer if I do!_

The argument weakened in Sirius's defense, and Maddie hated herself for it. Is there no compromise? No way she could take care of everyone?

And slowly the truth sunk in. Sirius _knew_ this was going to happen. He had dropped Danny off _first_, _before_ the confrontation. For some reason (one she only had suspicions about), he found Peter, or vice versa, and somehow she knew that, innocent or not, there would have been no way Sirius would have avoided Azkaban that day, except for death itself.

_That does not make this right!_

She buried her face in her hands. "You wanted me to take care of Danny, cousin," she breathed softly. "If I chase this, that would be going against your wishes, wouldn't it?"

And still, she hated herself for it. She hated herself so much.

* * *

_**Scriptor Nota:**__**  
**_

**Sorry for the weightyness... Hope this doesn't turn anyone off this, but I know it probably will.**

**Thanks for the epic response to this thing, though. I mean it, every one of you give yourselves a pat on the back. It's already become my most popular fic, so I must have done something right.**


	3. Omen

**Omen**

Thunder boomed ominously.

Danny shifted under his sheets, staring out the window. Staring at the clouds. Or, rather, trying to. Rain assaulted his window in wave after wave of kamikaze water droplets, distorting any view of the sky he might have gleaned.

If he'd been able to see clearly, he would have seen the looming form of a distinctly canine shape silhouetted against the sky-splitting light...

But he didn't, and he hadn't, and even if he had, he would have known not the meaning.

Heaving an annoyed sigh, Danny tried burying his head under the blankets. Then in his pillow. Then rolled over, stared at the window, sighed, and repeated the process.

He really hated sleepless nights.

Was it excitement or dread? He wasn't quite sure.

His parents had been working on the portal's concept since before he'd been born... and he didn't know why, but it hadn't worked. They'd looked so excited... then so crushed.

He closed his eyes as the rumble of thunder seemed to resound through the very bones in his body. He saw the faces of his friends Tucker and Sam as if they had been painted on his eyelids.

_How cool! They're finishing the portal on your birthday?!_

_Happy birthday, Danny! _

_They don't know what's wrong with it? But... they find out eventually, right?_

_It didn't work? Darn, it would have been cool... _

He didn't know when he'd fallen asleep, but the next thing he knew, it was morning. The sun shone through his window in glorious rays of golden light, and birds chirped, oblivious to the hardships of the world, singing their hearts out to the new day...

For a while, he just lay there immobile. The air was cold and he had no inclination of leaving the warmth of his bed. He could have lain there for hours, but he knew that he would have to get up soon...

Jazz was going with Maddie and Jack to look at potential schools for the week (One in New England, the other in France), and Tucker's mom was house sitting until they got back. Danny had begged to get to stay behind, but now he was almost regretting the choice.

What would a wizarding school be like? Would there be dragons guarding it? Or lots of spells? Would it be hiding in plain sight, or would there be ones hidden deep under the ocean, maybe? The possibilities seemed so limitless and glorious, he simply _had_ to wonder.

Stifling a rather persistent yawn, he rolled out of bed, not even flinching when he landed on the floor. "Cold," he thought absently. The very sneaky yawn managed to get out while his guard was down. "You win this time, yawn. But next time, next time I will win."

Sitting up he shook the haze of sleep from his head violently. Now sufficiently dizzy, he half stumbled, half dragged himself to the wall.

Yawning again, he pulled himself up so he was sitting on top of his chest of draws. He fumbled around in the top-right draw for the marker. A pair of odd socks, temporary tattoos, news clippings, a tube of glitter glue left over from three years ago... aha! Finally his fingers closed around the slim, dented and cold metallic tube that was his designated calendar-marking implement.

It was the standard routine.

For the past two years he'd done this, waking up and ticking off another day on his calendar. He'd found it was quite a nice way to start the day, especially when he had trouble remembering things like when homework was due, or when it was some obscure relative's birthday or something. He'd have to thank Sam... Again.

Sunday, April 16th, 1989. A hint of a smile tugged at the edges of his mouth. Almost two weeks after his 8th birthday. His parents had planned to activate their portal to the ghost zone then, as a birthday gift. It hadn't worked, and they were sad for a few hours after, but they bounced back. They always did.

It wasn't long after Danny had settled in at preschool that Maddie and her husband had finalized the plans for the ghost portal (after Jack had realized they hadn't built it yet), and they took it on as their primary project. Something that important required all of their inventive brainpower.

That didn't mean they neglected their children, though. The couple _always_ had time for him and Jazz.

Hopping off his draws he stretched extensively. A few vertebrae in his spine made pop and cracking noises. It felt pretty good to stretch after being practically immobile for hours on end, whether he was conscious at the time or not.

And with that, the last hints of sleep dissolved like eggshell in vinegar.

Feeling wide awake and full of energy, he dashed out the door and down the stairs in record time. He came to a stop equally as fast, and stared at Jazz. He really shouldn't have been surprised—in fact, he realised that he _wasn't _surprised. He just wanted the cookie she had in front of her.

Immediately he sat down and stared at her, gargoyle-like and unmoving. He knew she hated it when he did that. True to prediction, her eye twitched.

"Danny! Stop it," she snapped. He didn't move, or even blink. He was good at this. She realised immediately that that wasn't going to work. "Moooom! Danny's being weird again," she complained loudly.

Maddie didn't even look up. "Danny, stop staring at Jazz."

Danny's eyes narrowed in annoyance, the cheater! Bringing in the big guns? No fair! And she had the nerve to look at him with that smug look on her face?!

The cookie levitated two inches into the air, and promptly hit Jazz square on her forehead. "Ow," she exclaimed, more in surprise than pain. Glaring back at Danny's newfound smug grin, it was her turn to retaliate.

The cookie hovered, and like a shuriken it spun from its centre axis, right toward Danny's head. But he knew this was coming, and with both hands he pounced on the cookie and shoved the whole thing into his mouth. Mmmm, buttery.

Jazz looked affronted, her mouth opening and closing like a fish. "Fish-face," sniggered Danny, mouth full.

"Mom," exclaimed Jazz, at a loss.

Maddie knowingly gave Jazz another of the buttery cookies and looked at Danny in a way that said, 'I'm amused, but don't push your luck.' "Eat breakfast and have a shower," she said, with a slight smile in her otherwise stern voice.

"Yes, ma'am," exclaimed Danny, saluting. The amusement factor was greatly boosted by the fact his mouth was still full. Too her credit, Maddie did not laugh.

He hopped up and made a show of marching to the kitchen, preparing his breakfast of cereal with extremely exaggerated 'robotic' motions. Jazz looked on in slight anger and disgust. She'd get over it in a few hours, though. She always did.

Danny smirked to himself.

It was in the times like these that he really liked his life.

* * *

Eleven o'clock came around all too slowly, in Danny's opinion. His mom had fussed over him for so long making sure he'd be ok while they were gone that he thought he'd be old and grey before she'd finished!

Ok, so maybe that was a little bit of an exaggeration, but nevertheless, Tucker and his mom couldn't have arrived soon enough, as far as he was concerned.

All the suitcases were packed and piled by the doorway, just waiting to be taken somewhere interesting. Maddie had triple-checked everything for an absence of ghost-hunting weapons, ("But, but _Maddie_," Jack had whined.) they wanted to make a decent first impression, after all.

Jazz was the first Fenton to go to a wizarding school in over one hundred and ten years, so it was important not to let things go as badly as her distant relative's... Although, admittedly, they would be hard pressed to get seven ogres, a drunken dragon and a truckload of Cornish pixies at this time of year, anyway.

Within the family, it was no secret that Maddie was exceptionally proud of Jazz for deciding to actually go to a school of magic instead of taking the far less public route of private tutors and homeschooling, and equally proud of Jack for taking the existence of Jazz's magic so well.

It had taken Danny exactly three weeks to complete enough chores and do all possible homework of his in advance to get to stay, and he was pretty sure his mom regretted making that deal with him...

In fact, Danny was pretty sure that she was working her way up to another fuss-fest, and so he did something _any_ self-respecting young man would do... he used Tucker as a human shield.

Tucker didn't say anything, he couldn't, even if he'd wanted to—he was laughing too hard. Peering around his friend's shoulder, Danny gave his mom a cheeky grin. "I'll be _fine_, mom," he assured her—and why shouldn't she believe him? _He_ thought it was true.

Maddie gave her son a knowing look, then sighed. "I know you will," she said, a delicate smile gracing her lips. It was against her nature to leave him alone like this, but she told herself she was being irrational. Tucker's mother was a reasonable woman, kind and even more of a mother hen than Maddie was. They'd put all their ecto-powered inventions in the basement, which was locked. Check, check. "We'll be home soon," she told Danny. _'So why does this make me so uneasy?'_

Jazz was still sour from the biscuit incident; she may have been smart for her age, but she was still just eleven years old at heart. She tugged on her dad's sleeve, "Can we go now?"

Jack gave Danny a suffocating hug, "See you later, Danny-boy!" In a quieter voice he added, "I've heard some of those schools have ghosts there! Those spooks won't know what hit them when Jazzypants is there!"

Danny rolled his eyes. "Terrifying," he said with false enthusiasm, though he was definitely amused with the image... of Jazz running for her life. Most ghosts that lived in the wizard world were harmless, his mom had told him. They're ectoplasm was thinned by magic, she'd said. But neither Maddie nor Danny really had the heart to tell _him_ that.

Jack was appeased, however, and he grinned widely and goofily. His eyes were wet and he sniffed slightly. "You should really get going," Danny said quickly, at the same time Jazz said, "We should go now!"

He sniffed. "You're right! We can't keep them waiting!" And in one arm he scooped up an amused, _be_mused, protesting Jazz, and with the other he carried the entirety of their luggage to the GAV.

"That's my cue," said Maddie, smiling back at the man she loved. She'd been going over some things with Tucker's mom, making sure they were all prepared.

"Maddie! Where are the keys?" yelled Jack from outside.

She smiled, gave her goodbyes, hugged Danny one last time, planting a kiss on his forehead, then she was outside. "They're in your pocket," she said with an amused smile, retrieving the keys and giving them to him. Jack grinned sheepishly. "Make sure you're seatbelt's on, Jazz."

"Like I'd forget _that_," exclaimed Jazz both indignant and horrified.

"Banzai!" yelled Jack, and the RV powered up loudly, roaring into life as they sped away, breaking about a dozen road rules in the process. Maddie was always eternally grateful that he was actually a pretty good driver considering—after all, they'd never been in a car accident... even if the RV itself was like a tank...

Well, a few little helpful charms never hurt, anyway...

Somewhere, a cat screeched.

* * *

_**Scriptor Nota:**_

**Originally, part 2 of this chapter was really rough and rushed, with only 7 paragraphs. I started revising today, and dusted it all off for you! Actually, I wrote most of this chapter in June-July, but then realised-hang on a minute, I didn't post that, did I? So I thought I could (*coughcough*should*coughcough*) take a break from my new pokemon game (just heard they were bringing out Pokemon Black and White 2!, so I decicded I NEEDED to get Pokemon White before that came out-what can I say?)**

**I'm currently recovering from surgery on my feet, so I'm having trouble walking at the moment... that, and I'm being stubborn when it comes to taking painkillers. Bleh.**

**Thanks again, all the time, for all your wonderful favourites and reviews and follows! It inspires (*coughguiltcoughtripscough*) me so much! I know mostly where the plotline for this is going, so all I need to do now is suck it up and write it.**

**On a completely unrelated note: My parents are weird. My life is weird. My dog is weird.**


	4. The Nonconformist

**The Nonconformist**

Most kids would loathe going to school... especially the primary school of Amity Park. At the heart of the social tree were the star students, also known as the suck-ups and teacher's pets, with great influence and flattery they could sway most of the teachers with just a few choice words.

Below them were the most athletic kids in the school—most played sports and had very little interest in school or home work and would gladly pick on anyone below them in the hierarchy... so, basically, everyone else.

School was exactly twenty-five miles away from the family "home" of the Mansons, and according to Sam, nowhere near far enough.

Sam, full name Samantha Iris Manson, one and only daughter of Pamela and Jerome Manson, loved going to school for one, simple reason; it was somewhere her parents avoided like the plague.

Pamela and Jerome had never been first in line on the want-to-be-parents queue. Sam was an unplanned surprise, and only mildly inconvenient.

Oh how Pamela began imagining an idealistic offspring; a perfectly well-mannered little sun-child, with flawless blonde hair and pretty blue eyes, a dimpled smile and dressed in lacy, floral pink dresses for a girl, or crisp baby blues for a boy...

What they got was Sam.

It was all well and good until she turned six, mind you. But that was when Sam began to get blamed for things that she didn't do—and sometimes, couldn't possibly have done. T'was then that she began down the path of finding her own way in life.

It became clear that the couple could no longer live in the city; far too dangerous for the child that always wandered off and got into trouble—they just couldn't keep her contained, even with the best security money could buy, so two years and five months, almost to the day, they had moved to Amity Park.

Which Sam thought was all well and good—she had two best friends and no social standing whatsoever. In her eyes, life could only get better if everything pink crawled up and died and school had a take-all-classes-at-night option...

But the past three agonising weeks had been spent in Paris. Purest, brightest Heck. Her parents had only ever done anything in the place during the day... it was utter torture for the little self-proclaimed gothling.

Oh, how she would love to be at school right now instead of suspended several thousand feet over the ocean, trapped in a flying metal canister with her... _parents_.

Her mother's perfume was shoving it's floral fists (her mind refused to come up with something more satisfyingly crass) up her nose and mouth, down her throat, making her feel as if she were being suffocated in a very nauseating way.

Or being put under general anaesthetic against her will.

Take your pick, the latter would have been kinder than _this_.

Actually, now that she thought about it, it was probably her dad's perfume—his oh-so-manly deodorant. Gak. As if her parents weren't so sickeningly freakish already. Demons from some pink, frilly hell, spawned only to ruin her life.

She clawed at the area around her ears, trying to drown out their horribly peppy voices, even though there was no possible way she could get farther away from them in this horrible situation.

Sam was not below locking herself in the lavatory and pulling apart the hull of the plane just to get away.

Ok, so perhaps that was a very bad idea... and highly unlikely to succeed, but she was pretty sure it was becoming a worthwhile shot at this point.

She dared a glance at her father's watch. According to _it_, they'd left Paris barely half an hour ago.

Oh god.

* * *

_**Scriptor Nota:**_

**Sorry this is so short. Sickeningly short in fact. I would have posted sooner, but I just moved house. Again. Someone told mom that we move more than atoms. Not really true, but an interesting image. (in an "Oh, Dear Snot, No!" kind of way.)**

**I'm going to get all the stuff I've written so far and write it out on paper (don't know whish box the printer got put in... oh well :P), it'll mean I can write when I don't have computer acess. Such an event shall from henceforth become known as a "god send".**

**So, Anyway... I'm toying with the idea of going back and fixing a few odd details that've been bugging me. Some of them might change the chapters and story context a little, but I don't want to touch them if you guys are very strongly against such a revision. (doesn't mean I wont if it means the plot stops making sense. Not that it does anyway... Oh well. Shutting up now.)**

**Bies~**


	5. Scenic Route

**Scenic Route**

Danny was sure his hands were trying to kill him—they were _so_ _sore_!

...Ok, so it was his own fault, but how could he have known staying up playing Rival Ninja Smash V all day until waaay past bedtime would have hurt his hands?

...Ok, so it was common sense not to have thought of that before mindlessly button-mashing for hours on end, but _come on_... he wasn't even ten yet!

Danny buried his head into the table, as if doing so would make him disappear into the cold metal surface. Tucker seemed to have no problems with his hands being absolutely toasted, or even mildly sore after their game last night, and Danny was more than a little envious.

That, and Sam hadn't shown up for school today. Her parents had dragged her off to Paris, a family "vacation" and they'd been gone for over a week. They still had four days, eight hours and thirty minutes until they'd be back—_No, he was not counting, you liar!_

Suddenly he spotted her, swift-walking—not running, no, she still had some pride left—towards the table. Danny grinned up at her and Tucker's eyes un-glued themselves from his well-loved Game Boy.

"You came home early?" Tucker asked, sparing a mere moment before his eyes returned to his videogame.

Sam practically melted into the chair, her fluffy purple spider backpack's 'legs' moving as she slumped. "I barely made it out alive!" she yowled in dismay. Pausing, she then sniffed her arm dubiously. "Ugh," she exclaimed, pulling it away from her nose. Jolting upright in her chair, eyes flaring with anger, "Why does my _dad_ have to wear the world's most horrible perfume? Gah!"

Tucker's eyes widened in horror, "That's your _dad's_!?"

Danny was trying to hide the fact his eyes were watering, blinking a few times to try and stop the stinging. It was certainly... potent. "So... it was—"

"Torture," Sam finished for him, pulling her lunch box out and quickly waging war on the celery. "So... Whad'd I miss?"

Tucker filled her in on the school side of things, and then it was Danny's turn. He wished he could tell them about magic, he was sure they'd find it as cool as he did. But he'd always been told muggles couldn't know. He'd never understood why, but adults just shook their heads and gave weak excuses.

But as much as he loved his friends as if they were family, they weren't family, and he couldn't tell them. So he told them the "official" story.

Sam nodded her head, she wasn't surprised that Jazz would be going to some fancy school for smart kids. The Fentons were never left wanting for money, either. Danny, Sam and Tucker didn't understand where Danny's parents got the money from, as neither of them had jobs and the government and other scientists thought they were batty.

Soon there was nothing left to tell, and they talked about trivial things like the next Terminatra or Manbat's Revenge movie, videogames and even playground hearsay until the bell signalled the end of recess.

* * *

Tucker's mom is really big on walking—especially when she had a kid like tucker who would happily plug himself into a computer or videogame until he was starving.

She needed to get a package from the post office—which was all the way at the other side of town in Danny and Tucker's opinions—and so they were taking the "scenic route"... also known as the "long way home"...

Danny was concentrating on making sure Tucker—who had his nose three centimetres from his Game Boy screen—didn't walk into poles, dogs, people... or into traffic. Really, It was amazing how oblivious Tucker could be when there was a screen in front of him.

Finally they reach the post office, and Tucker's mom leaves them outside to wait for her, as she'll only be a moment. Tucker sits on the window ledge—but something stops Danny from doing the same.

All the hairs on the back of Danny's neck prickle, and he feels like something is watching him. He whips his head around, but sees nothing more than the old ruin of the medieval church that once would have stood tall and majestic, it's forlorn graveyard stretching beside it.

The old post office wasn't the one Danny would usually have gone to with his mom or dad... the one in the town center. This one was in the old part of Amity, where the buildings were made of stone or old, painted wood and painted, restored glass windows.

Nature had claimed this part of Amity for its own, for the most part. Weedy, wild grass grew as tall as Danny's chest. There were creeper plants, stretching up along buildings and walls, and wild flowers hid in all sorts of strange, random places. He decided that he liked it. But occasionally there were broken brown glass bottles, and plastic wrappers and all sorts of trash and it made him sad.

And there was something moving in that graveyard.

There was no way he just imagined that. He squinted, trying to get a better look at what he'd thought he'd seen.

A flicker of movement soon turned into a wispy shadow.

The wispy shadow flickered, and soon he saw the rest of it.

It stared at him with the strangest green eyes he had ever seen—entire swirling galaxies seemed to be forever in motion, submerged in the toxic green liquid of the canine's eyes. It stared at him lazily, mildly interested that he seemed to be able to see it.

The wind toyed with the leaves curiously, as if testing the water with a toe before diving in. The blackest, most opaque smoke he had ever seen billowed from the canine's fur, dissolving into the air in mere moments.

He didn't know what he was seeing. He didn't understand what it meant.

Step.

Wolf-like, he thought briefly. It's kind of like a bear-sized wolf... It had sharp grey teeth, dripping with the same black flame-like smoke as the rest of it.

He caught a glimpse of a glowing green tongue as it yawned lazily, panting slightly from the sun's heat. What _was_ it? He didn't know.

And yet he wasn't afraid.

Step.

Just a little closer... He needed to get a better look. To reach out, see if it was real, if he could touch it.

Step.

Swifter than he could have ever followed with his eyes, the creature's head was raised, it's teeth bared in warning. "Whooof!"

Danny stumbled backwards in surprise, yelping when his tailbone painfully struck the gutter.

A car, horns blaring, skidded past, right over the space he'd been just moments before.

He stared at the spot where the strange wolf had been.

But there was nothing there.

* * *

**_Scriptor Nota:_**

**And that's why you don't cross the road in a hypnotic daze, without looking both ways! **

**I dare you to guess what the wolf is.**

***Ehem.* Let me try that again.**

**Hey guys, sorry I haven't updated in forebah! D: I got caught up with my in-the-works Jak and Daxter story, Unnamed Soldier... and stuff.!**

**I ****_really_**** want to go back and redo the first chapters, maybe clean them up a bit and add in some more awesome? But I dunno... I want to, but I don't really know if I should? If someone can give me some input, it'd be really awesome... ***

**Was trying to get the chapters longer, too... I don't like how short they are turning out. **

**I'm also going back to high school again this year... (been homeschooled for a long time) which is a little bit (really very lots) daunting. Ah well. Let's hope I have all my human behavioural analysers up to date... this is a social experiment, right? And what do you mean I'm not allowed to put them in my Matter Destruction unit? **

**...Not even for science? **

**...Da'aw...**

**((Did I mention I've only been to high school for less than two days before?))**

**On another note... 100 follows. OSHIZ, uguys... 'w' Thank you for all the follows, faves and ****reviews****. It means a lot to me. I know how I want this story to end, but I don't know much about what to do in the middle. So any ideas or questions, please post a review—I can't guarantee I'll put them in, but they may just help the next chapter come along sooner...**


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